A Minnesota Packer Fan. It could happen to you...

Sometimes the acorn does fall far FAR from the tree.

our son - a cheese head

In this case, all the way from Viking Territory to the east side of Wisconsin. We think it's possible that he was abducted by aliens.

Something I forgot to tell you.

I am still here and I am still checking out your blogs, but I have not had as much time as I'd like to keep in touch and to post.

I made this sweater a few months back for my daughter's tutor. It's the first baby sweater I ever made without a pattern! I found an old wool baby sweater that was stained beyond repair, so I knit my own version. It took only about two days. Maybe someday, I'll post the pattern if anyone is interested.
I added little wooden buttons. It was perfect!

ps. the lamb toy was a Fiber Trend pattern called A Felt Flock (206x) by Bev Galeskas

Do you believe in miracles?

Well, try being 43, falling in love, getting married, finishing your masters and having a baby all in one year! Here was a little gift for my newborn niece who just spent three nerve-wracking days in Children's Hospital with a strange fever. She's back home in our arms, safe and healthy, and we are so happy. We do believe in miracles!

Excuses, Excuses

I am sorry about my little absence. There was a massive candy hang-over followed by a few guilt driven work-outs that have left me fairly immobile for a few days.

And so I took this downtime and began to deconstruct my personality flaws in general and found that on top of my lack of self control with all things chocolate and peanut-butter, I am also lazy, and I have a tendency to thrive in clutter of the worst kind.

Hence Rani's Reconstruction '09 has begun. On top of trying to exercise - something I've never really done, I began throwing things out. I used Flyladys declutter system (it's free and simple). Grab three laundry baskets - give away, throw away, put away. Set your timer for 15 minutes and move like a bat out of hell or a woman after a Reese's Peanut-butter Cup.

How is this at all related to my knitting blog? I have some mighty fine yarn that I am getting rid of. There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, a few of the skeins are some of my favorites, but I'm no longer kidding myself about knitting those into anything because my Ravelry queue is 6 pages long and I only finish about 4-5 projects a year. Who am I kidding?

I don't want to charge anything for the yarn - you can just have it. I'll post pictures of the first few and see what kind of response I get. I probably don't want to ship to Canada or overseas, but I'm not a complete arse. So if you really want one of these skeins, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

First up:
A fabulously soft and squooshy yarn from The Unique Sheep in Tinsel Toes
colorway: Precious Metals
50/50 superwash merino/tencel
367 yds/100 g.
fingerling





Next: Opal Cotton sock yarn
It says 48% Baumwolle, 39% Schurwolle and 13% Polymid
wool/cotton blend?
colorway: 1956
100 g./412 m.





Next: Spunky Eclectic - Super Nova
Colorway: Irish Dreams
superwash sport with 10% nylon
360 yards/6 st per inch
(says sport but feels a bit thinner - I'd use a US 1-3 needle)




Next: Dashing Dachs: Fingerling Superwash Merino
Colorway: Froggin'
560 yards, 4 oz.



And guess what. I have so much more, but I wasn't sure how to do this. I'll see what kind of a response I get and go from there.

If you are interested, leave your name/e-mail in the comment section. I WON'T PUBLISH IT!!!! I'll contact you via e-mail and delete your comment for your privacy.

Happy November!!!

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Look at what I won! I am the luckiest girl in the knitty world! This lovely yarn is from my Up North bloggy friend Senja. She had a blog contest on her Imagine Knit and I was the lucky winner.

I won THIS:"Spice"

But that's not all. Senja did the dye job herself! She has her own Esty shop and is an talented lady. Go check out the shop (which has been recently updated). You'll find a very pretty semi-solid green called "Green Lantern" - OH, and another called "Birch Trees" and "Apricot Blush" and "Chocolate Covered Cherries". Christmas socks and gloves and mittens need to be started soon, people - check out her delicious, hand-dyed yarn. We have to support our Minnesota sisters!

Oh, and I got a little denim knit-take-along back that I love but forgot to take a picture of it.

Sweater Specs

Here are the sweater specs:

b14-27 Jacket and Trousers in Alpaca

Yarn:
Drops Alpaca lime (#7300)
Drops Alpaca mint (#7120) - it's called light gray green I think
Needles: US 1 1/2 or 2.5 mm
I bought mine at Nordic Mart for $5.65 p/skein (three skeins total for the sweater)

What I'm working on...

I decided that of all my UFO's, the baby stuff has to be finished first. There is nothing more frustrating to my inner-knitter than starting a bunch of baby clothes only to finish them when they head off to college. So my goal - stated here, publicly, is to finish this sweater in time for Christmas for my new baby niece.

I started it over in pinks and purples, but I don't like how it's turning out. So there. I WILL finish this sweater before Little Lizzy outgrows the damn thing.

Go ahead and laugh, why dontcha

Ok, you can go ahead and laugh, cuz in some silly way, it's funny. I knitted my sleeves too long.
When you make these kinds of mistakes on something you've laboriously made by hand, it has to be recognized. I ignored it hoping that either I'd wake up the next day to find that I was mistaken - a trick of the eye - and the sleeves would miraculously be the right length. Or maybe my arms would grown five inches and the sweater would magically fit. My hubby had a good laugh at that one.

Then, thanks to blogland, a bloggy friend pointed out that I can rip back from the cuffs, and pick up the stitches and finish the cuffs going the other directions. PHEW! I can actually do that. A few years ago, I would have dumped this in my UFO pile, but I can honestly and safely call myself an intermediate knitter and the thought of cutting off those cuffs does not daunt me! HA HA!

These are a teeny pair of Classic Mittens (free - all sizes) I made for my darling niece for her 4th birthday. I love the pattern but the yarn was a compulsive, much-too-expensive purchase that I shouldn't have done. Grrrr. It's Claudia Handpainted (I know! What was I thinking!). So there you go.

My Great Escape!

Mr. Flu Bug moved into my house this week. I have donned a uniform of yellow rubber gloves, running shoes and a frazzled facial expression that makes you wonder. . . crazy person? or mother with sick kids?

So I grabbed The-Prince-Of-Poopness and we ran away.

Come on, little buddy. Let's get outta here.





Out the back door and into the woods. The sugar maples, in all their glorious vanity, took my mind off the thermometers and half-eaten Popsicles and left me feeling renewed and ready to fight onward.

They didn't turn their usual red, orange, yellow. This year they opted for the 'gold' look.
"Nature's first green is gold..." R.FrostFine by me.



And here is Prince of Poop all pooped out

. . . on my newly covered couch.

Would you have the heart to kick him off?

Go Orange!

I've been given a fun challenge by Marit - GO ORANGE. So I grabbed my camera and away I went:








Happy Orange!

Here is YOUR challenge: GO ORANGE! (or GO RED!) you decide... then pick a new color to pass on.

ps. let me know if you took the challenge - I want to see your pics.

A little Italian anyone?

My sister and bro-in-law are proud parents of a 7 pound baby girl with ten fingers, ten toes and a tiny turned up nose. She's darling and wonderful and spectacular and perfectly perfect. Welcome little Elizabeth!



So to celebrate, I cast on my Winnie socks in baby pink. With the leftovers, I can make some Saartje Booties for the little babe. They are my 'waitin' in line to pick up the kids' project.

Dullsville......

I have one finished boring pair of green industrial boot socks for y'all. And I was watching Lost in bed and made my hubby put them on and model them for you. So there you go.

Boot Socks. Needle: US 3
Yarn: Järbo Garn Raggi Multi
For Mr. Darling and his outdoor adventures.

I also finished a pair of midnight blue socks for my dad but forgot to take a picture. I'll get on that.

ps. My sister's baby is well-done but still in the oven. The suspense is killing me!